Monday 22 March 2021

Orcs vs. Gondor III

The kids came over this weekend, so I was able to test out my new game mats and complete the third Lord of the Rings battle against my youngest. He decided he wanted to use his orcs and Gondor warriors again. When I showed him the re-painted miniatures (not all are finished so far, but 6 are almost there and the other ten or so have been started - see previous post, Orc Repaints) he was over the moon and asked when I could get his Gondor troops to the same level of completeness. I mentioned that I would try to finish off his orcs by the time I see him again in a couple of weeks and then we can talk about his Gondor troops.

Anyway, this battle was to be the decider. I had a few little odds and ends to tie up around the house before we could get started, so I asked him to set up the table again. He quickly grabbed the green felt table mat and plonked a few items of scenery onto it. He then placed both sets of our troops how he wanted them. Here is the initial set up - Gondor moving in from the left and the orcs from the right.

After the two close-fought battles from a couple of weeks ago, we decided to pool the survivors, tweak the rosters a little, and fight a final set piece...

Gondor...

Baramir - Gondor captain (Battle Companies stats)
3x archers
3x warriors with hand weapon and shield
3x warriors with spear and shield

The orcs...

Balgor - orc captain (Battle Companies stats)
5x orc archers
3x orcs with hand weapon and shield
2x orcs with two-handed weapons
5x orcs with spear

The numbers are a little skewed in favour of the orcs, but I wanted to see how well the Gondor troops could fight when outnumbered, and what tactics might best be utilised to deal with superior enemy forces.


Balgor looked up from watching the flames that were cooking his field rabbit and spotted a couple of small bands of battered orc warriors approaching through the scattered trees and bushes. He barked a greeting and asked why both Grashnik's and Griknash's boys were leaderless. The defeated orcs looked down at their feet as they mumbled that they were ambushed by man patrols from the big city. They stated that they gave a good account of themselves, as many of the man-things had fallen too, but if they were joined by Balgor and his small, but tough, band they could easily over power the remnants of the Gondorian patrols before they could return to their city. Balgor quickly summed up the situation; sixteen orc warriors arned to the teeth versus the remnants of two beaten up Gondor patrols. This should be an easy victory. Knowing which direction the men were headed, Balgor knew exactly where to meet them in battle to bring his advantages to bear.

Baramir looked up from his contemplation after burying his fellow warriors and noticed that the remains of Foromir's patrol had just come into view. He hailed them and asked for a report. Although they had won their skirmish, they were sad to report the loss of their captain. They mentioned that they had tracked the remnants of the orc warband that they had defeated to a clearing where it was noticed that they had joined forces with a few other warband remnants. They reported that there were maybe as many as fifteen or sixteen orcs; a warband that would need to be destroyed if the good farmers of Gondor were to sleep easier in their beds that night. Guessing where the orcs would head in order to set up an ambush, Baramir decided to go pell mell and try to head them off at a small hamlet that would act as a good ambush point for the orcs.

The men and orcs spotted each other at either end of the abandoned settlement and each leader barked out their orders. The men split into two wings; the right wing was heavily armed and made straight for the biggest band of orcs that were protecting their archers, and the left wing archers moved to outflank the orcs with support from a heavily armed warrior with a spear and shield. Balgor was not to be outdone after he realised that his ambush ruse had been anticipated and decided to split his forces. He led a handful of his toughest warriors to meet the Gondorian archery threat and ordered the rest of the warriors to protect the five orc archers who were climbing the nearest hill for a good vantage point for shooting.

An archery contest began to take place as the heavily armed warriors on both sides faced off against each other. The Gondorian archers shot down an orc with a heavy two-handed weapon to the left but then one of the Gondor swordmen fell to the right (1 dead orc/1 dead Gondor).

Spurred on by their previous tactics, Baramir led his men into the thick of the combat. Outnumbered, the stout men of Gondor fought for the honour of those that had died on the previous two encounters. Two orcs with scimitars and shields were felled but the brave captain of Gondor narrowly avoided a grievous wound (passed his Fate roll). The men pushed their advantage as the orc forces on the right flank began to waiver (3 orcs/1 Gondor).

Back on the left flank, the Gondorian archery claimed another heavily armed orc warrior, but these small victories were suddenly overshadowed as the retreating orcs on the right flank felled an over-eager Baramir; the fates would not save him this time. The death of their leader halted the Gondorian advance and spurred the orcs into a final push back before their retreat and regroup. One more Gondorian swordsman fell, leaving the right flank severely depleted (4 O/3 G).

Seeing the death of their leader and how hard pushed the right flank was, the archers and their spear support man headed back towards the main battle fray, firing their bows at the enemy as they went. Unfortunately, the concentrated fire-power of the five orcs on the small ridge was too much for the Gondorian skirmishers and one of their number fell. The renewed combat at the base of the hillock led to two more Gondorian deaths in return for just one orc warrior slayed. The men of Gondor, leaderless and losing men too quickly to the well-planned and fought orc ambush, decided to make a break for it, but managed to strike down another orc that was in their way (5 O/6 G).

As a final parting shot, the Gondorian archers managed to kill one last orc spear wielder to at least salvage a little honour after being so decisively beaten.

Victory was for the orcs today. Their loss of face from the previous two defeats had been avanged and the hated man-things had finally been defeated. They would feast on man-flesh tonight, and tomorrow take their pick of the farmers and their live stock.


The break point in Turn 7 came as a welcome respite for the hard pushed Men of the West. The battle started well for them, but the orcs turned out to be tougher this time round. The five archers on the hill top certainly kept the men's heads down and limited to a small degree what tactics could be carried out. The loss of their leader so early also seemed to foretell the patrol's doom. Still, four men (2 archers and 2 spearmen) got away to tell the tale and perhaps they can get back to their commanders to organise a retaliatory attack on Balgor and his boys (10 survivors - Balgor, 5 archers, 3 spearorcs, 1 orc with scimitar and shield). This was also the first time we started to use the advanced stats - we decided to use fate rolls, which helped both of the leaders escape death on on eoccasion each. I will continue using Fate from now on, and perhaps introduce Might in a few games' time, as this stat takes a little more to master adequately.

I will take a quick look at the Battle Companies rules over the next few days and try to make Balgor's mob into a coherent fighting force. I will then make up a fresh Gondorian (or maybe Rohan?) Battle Company to fight against them. However, littlun would like to use his Easterlings, so we may fight with those next time. I will see what he wants to do.

2 comments:

  1. Great battle report, and well done for the Dadhammer with the kids!

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  2. Thanks Springinsfeld. We have enjoyed our little forays into Middle-earth. I am hoping for many more as the weather/light improves and my gaming mojo stays with me.

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